


you're not allowed to fall in love with me

by ellalopez



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Jamy, Peraltiago, dianetti
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-22 16:17:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11971032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellalopez/pseuds/ellalopez
Summary: it's quite amusing, actually.nearly everyone in the precinct knows it but jake and amy themselves. so when they find out about the shipping and the wedding planning (that part is really only boyle), they decide to join in and even raise it up a notch.they'll fake date for as long as they don't fall in love with each other.bets are placed. charles gives it a month. gina goes with four. holt, six and a half. terry begrudgingly announces seven. rosa doesn't even blink when she says three weeks.things go... off track, to say the least.





	1. most times i pretend that he's just a friend

**IT** appears to beanother normal day at the Nine-Nine.

Amy's currently pissed at Jake for spilling his blue soda over her paperwork, which he claims is an accident. This obviously results in some playful argument that Charles is _definitely_ not filming from his desk. Rosa's polishing her motorcycle helmet, pretending to listen to Gina ramble on about some Beyoncé meet and greet she didn't get to attend the other day because she was at a dance competition with her troupe, Dance-y Reagan. She could've ditched the competition, but Gina Linetti never gives up the chance to show off her dance moves, even if there's a Beyoncé meet and greet happening.

"Besides," she drawls, filing her nails as Rosa continues to tune her out. "She'll be back next month. She tweeted this cool poster with tour dates and stuff, so I'm good."

Hitchcock and Scully have been working, strangely, for the past ten minutes, in silence, stopping once in a while to reach into their chip bags. Apparently, the Captain told them that if they finished their paperwork today, he'd let them eat as much junk food as they want tomorrow without lecturing them about health concerns and their hygiene. Terry's been sitting in front of the fridge for awhile now, trying to decide what flavour of yogurt he should have to start off his day. So far, it's a tie between peach and raspberry.

Rosa lays down her helmet to look at the civilian administrator perched on top of her desk. She'd let Gina stay there, but the glitter from her nail filer is fluttering down onto her computer keyboard, and she doesn't want another jammed key. The 'R' incident was enough.

"Hey, Gina. Could you... use your sparkly popsicle stick somewhere else?"

"But I like it here, Rosie. Do you want me to leave?"

Rosa Diaz doesn't let anyone give her nicknames. Charles attempted 'Ro-Ro' once, and she vowed to never let anything similar occur ever again. She somehow let Rosie slide by, which has led her to believe that Gina has some sort of special power that manages to let her get her way with Rosa. She hates that she can't fight her smile muscles when she's near her.

So she just exhales and lets it go, and Gina rejoices in her victory. She adds this to her growing list of 'Rosie Wins', a section located in her password-protected Notes app. She then turns her attention to Jake and Amy's fight, tapping away at her phone screen to live tweet the event. Charles has put away his phone to watch the two bicker.

"They're like an old married couple," he says dramatically, his hand on his heart. Gina stifles a giggle.

"Come on Ames, it isn't _that_ big of a deal,"

"It's _sticky!"_ she wails, desperately trying to move the items around the stain away. Jake bites his lip to keep from laughing.

"You probably have a backup copy anyway."

"That doesn't matter! The problem is you, you're always pouring blue soda all over my life!" she says accusingly, her nose wrinkling in disgust as she watches Jake down the remaining soda.

"What's wrong with pouring blue soda? If anything, you should be grateful. I caught a spelling mistake in your paperwork."

"You _what?"_

Jake calmly retrieves the drenched paperwork, and tries not to burst into hysterics right then and there when he sees the giant neon blue stain it leaves on his colleague's desk. He carefully flips to the second page and points to the mistake.

"You spelled the perp's last name wrong. It's M-C-C-L-A-N-E, not M-C-C-L-A-I-N."

"And how do you know that?" she snaps at him, not wanting to lose this argument. She triple checks all her work before she hands it in, so this can't be true.

"Easy. Die Hard's main character, John McClane, has the same last name as the perp. Plus, I helped you process the guy, remember?" He smirks, tossing a roll of paper towels at her from his drawer. "Sorry 'bout the soda, though. You have to admit that it was funny to see you freak out like that."

Amy grumbles something under her breath, accepting his apology, and says a quick 'thank you' as she cleans up the mess and corrects her work. Charles takes the opportunity to send a message to the text chain he has with everyone except Jake, Amy, Hitchcock and Scully (because they don't even know what's going on half the time, and them using up her data would be a waste, according to Gina).

 

 **charles boilz:** briefing room in fifteen.

 **the 100 emoji:** i'll b there

 **don't touch me:** new bet? sweet.

 **terry loves art:** fine, but not any longer. i've got a yogurt dilemma to figure out.

 **captain holt:** *be. Was it that hard to add one more letter?

 

_at the briefing room_

 

Charles stands at the front of the room as he watches everyone file in. Holt assigned Jake and Amy to a low profile case that should only take them twenty minutes to solve, which will give them enough time for this meeting. Hitchcock and Scully are still working, and Holt has replaced their chip bags with new ones, so there'll be no distractions.

They're ten minutes into bargaining when the door to the briefing room bursts open. Amy has her arms folded over her chest, and Jake looks at everyone in shock.

"What are you guys _doing_ in here?" he asks in bewilderment. Suspicion is written across his face, and Amy's is the same.

"Ah, Detectives. Glad to see you two solved the case early." Amy glances at the Captain in disbelief.

"You gave us that case on purpose? To-"

Rosa decides to speak up before Amy explodes in front of her mentor.

"We were betting on you and Jake."

"Excuse me, _what?"_ the two detectives say in unison, confused. Rosa just about bangs her head against the wall. She really needs smarter friends.

"Before you bitches walked in, we were debating how long it would take before you two got together, kay? Is this situation that hard to understand?" Gina huffs, rolling her eyes. Rosa gives her a high five for calling them bitches, and Gina tries not to show how pleased she is. It's hard not to blush when you get a compliment from Rosa Diaz, who would rather kill a man than say something nice to somebody voluntarily.

"But why? I'd never date Jake, I work with Jake!" Amy stutters. She doesn't sound as convincing as she hoped she would, but it'll have to do for now.

"That's what you think, but we can all see it. You two flirt every second of the day, and to be honest, it's quite sickening." Rosa grimaces, thinking about the literal heart eyes Amy always has when she looks at Jake. They have got to be the most oblivious people ever to not notice their feelings for each other. Then again, Rosa isn't that good with emotions herself, so she might be wrong.

Jake looks interested and not at all insulted by Rosa's dig. Him and Amy exchange looks.

"Cool. coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool. We want in," Jake says, a tone of confidence in his voice. Amy looks like she wants to change her mind, but decides against it and nods slightly instead, agreeing with his statement.

Charles gapes at them both.

"Wow! Okay, well, we didn't know this would happen, so... I'm fresh out of ideas. You guys got anything?"

"They should fake date and we can bet on how long it takes until they 'fess up about their love for each other," Gina chimes in. "One of my followers just replied to my tweet with that. Full credit goes to ghive843."

There are murmurs of approval all around, but Terry steps in, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"Look, Terry loves love, but are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Absolutely!" Charles squeaks out in excitement, resting his hand on Terry's shoulder.

"It's done. Everyone place in a $20 bill and write down their bet on the board over there." Rosa announces, motioning to the whiteboard. Jake's wearing a smug grin on his face, bragging about how nothing is going to happen and that he finds Santiago repulsive. Amy hides a smile and shoves him, causing him to yelp and go "What was that for?!" as Charles swoons in the background. He steps forward to place his bet.

"A month and nothing more," Charles declares, slamming his money down on the table. He proceeds to write it down, and Gina goes next.

"Four months. These losers are gonna take forever to own up about their feelings. _Forever."_ she emphasises.

"Six and a half." Holt states, pulling out a neatly folded bill.

"Seven," Terry mutters, still uncertain about how this is going to end. They all turn to Rosa as she reaches for a crumpled twenty from her leather jacket pocket.

 "Three weeks." She doesn't even bat an eye, ignoring the reactions she gets when the group starts talking all at once.

"Rosie, girl, I trust your judgment and all but, you don't think that's cutting it a bit close?"

"Three weeks? Diaz, that's ridiculous."

"You're serious about this?"

"Three weeks isn't enough time for me to finish my best man speech!"

"That's shorter than the time Santiago can last during se-"

"Shut up, Peralta! That doesn't even make sense!"

Rosa uncaps the marker, confirming that she is, in fact, going to go with what she said. She scribbles it down, then stalks out of the room without another word. Everyone else shuffles out, Charles right behind her, complaining about his speech and that if she's right, she at least needs to help him write it. Jake and Amy are left there, awkwardly standing in front of each other.

"No longer just colleagues, huh? We're actually _dating."_ Jake puts air quotes around the word 'dating', and Amy chuckles, playing with her hair. She'd braid it, considering how nervous she is, but she doesn't want to give him anything else to make fun of her. He's mentioned to her once about the binder he keeps on her, later adding that he, in no way, was a stalker.

"Yup. Us. Dating." she stops before continuing. "God, how is the Captain even involved in this? I mean, Raymond is the last person I'd expect to be betting, let alone on us. The only thing he bets on is dog racing, don't ask me how I know that-"

"You're cute when you ramble."

Amy nearly pulls her hair out in surprise.

"You think I'm cute?"

Jake curses in his head. Why did he let that slip?  _You hate Amy,_ he reminds himself. _She's the most infuriating and obnoxious person you've ever met._

"Um, that's what I'm supposed to say, right? As your handsome, loving boyfriend?" He responds immediately, trying to make his previous remark to seem as accidental as possible.

Amy doesn't know why, but she almost wished he meant it.

Key word: _almost._

She dismisses it, shrugging. "Yeah. Not to the handsome and loving part. Compliments are good. I, uh, like your hair."

She's losing it. She always cracks under pressure and says the dumbest things.

Jake runs his fingers through his hair subconsciously, smiling to himself. He'd say something funny, something clever like he always does, but it's like that part of him has been shut off. Maybe the anxiety is getting to him.

"So, how do we make this..."

"Professional? Less weird?" Amy offers, smoothing down her blazer.

"A crazy ass bet of our own." Jake suggests, and Amy's eyes light up. He's got her full attention now.

"Ooh, what are you thinking?"

"Same rules as theirs. Except no matter what happens, you're not allowed to fall in love with me." Jake says.

"That won't be a problem." Amy snorts. She's taught herself to push aside her feelings, and for someone as annoying as Jake, this would be easy.

"Cool. We make it difficult for them, and," Jake pauses for effect, grinning. "Whoever falls first owes the other a hundred bucks. Even though I have no idea how I'm going to get that money."

"Can't wait to walk out of this with my pride and your money," Amy says, already thinking about all the fountain pens she can get at her favourite stationery shop.

"So it's settled. May the best detective win. Which is obviously me. There's no way you'll be able to resist this face."

"Game on, Peralta. The only way you're winning is _in your dreams."_

"Sick burn, Santiago. Do you want a grade for it?" He teases her.

"I'm not that desperate," Amy calls over her shoulder as she walks away, not bothering to suppress her smile. This was clearly going to be an eventful few weeks.

 


	2. hold on baby you're losing it

**THREE** days into their bet, Jake decides to take Amy out on a date.

"That's what boyfriends do, right?"

He takes her to this fancy French restaurant, Bouche Manger, that he's never been to in his life but he prays that it's good because of all the four-star ratings on Yelp. He had to pay and book a reservation online, and thankfully Charles bought him a gift card for this place that he found in an old hoodie pocket, covered in dust but luckily still good for use. Otherwise, he'd be in deeper debt than before.

Jake honks one more time, parked in front of Amy's apartment. He jokingly told her to dress formally to fit the French theme, so that might be why she's taking so long. He's wearing a tuxedo from the Boyle-Linetti wedding, as it was the only formal item he could find in his closet.

"Santiago!" He yells, rolling down his window. "Your carriage has arrived, darling!"

"We're moving onto pet names now, Peralta?" His partner replies, stepping out from behind her door.

Jake leans his head out the window to the sound of her voice, his jaw dropping when he sees her outfit.

Amy Santiago was wearing a striking red dress, similar to the one she wore to the Captain's birthday party. She had her hair down in simple curls, and she probably had her contacts in, as her glasses were nowhere to be seen. Her lips were the same shade as her dress. Her overly sexual thirteen-year-old cousin, Ryleigh, told her that red and red was a good combination. Even though Amy didn't know if she could trust her, she went with it anyway.

"Is this too much? I could go back and change," Amy says nervously, her fingers absentmindedly tapping the door frame. Jake shakes his head out of his daze and gives her a thumbs up.

"You clean up nice, Santiago. Like, really nice. You look good. I mean, you always look good-"

"Thanks, Jake." She laughs, a gentle flutter in her heart. She tries not to pay any attention to it as she gets into his car and they drive away.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

 

Jake learns two things on their night out.

One, seven drink Amy is really, really hot.

He doesn't notice how many drinks she's had until Amy stops complaining about how lonely she always is, living alone in her apartment, and starts moving her chair closer to Jake. It's a subtle change from six drink Amy to seven, and it doesn't bother him until she wraps her hands around his neck. She starts whispering about how she hasn't slept with somebody ever since she broke up with Teddy, and about how much she misses it. She goes into complete unnecessary, delicious detail that Jake almost faints right then and there. He tries to act cool and untangles her arms, telling her to drink two more shots so he can skip Equestrian Amy and move on to the next. He sighs in relief when he finds out that nine drink Amy is just a truth bomb, and she starts telling him a lot about herself. He tries not to use this to his advantage and proceeds to take her home. (He didn't drink, because someone had to get them back in one piece, right?)

Two, Amy has obsessive compulsive disorder.

He gets this information from truth bomb Amy. She mentions her liking of odd numbers over even ones, especially the number nine. Jake begins to understand why she only gets up to have coffee at 9 AM, and her tendecy to tap or drum her fingers against surfaces in sets of nine. It makes a lot more sense to him now- her crisp, collared shirts and pantsuits, ironed without a wrinkle in sight. The neatly stacked files on her desk and her colour coded sticky notes. Her hair, sometimes straightened to the point there wasn't a strand out of place. The way she'd overthink most situations that people couldn’t care less about.  

All because of her OCD.

Amy explains to him that she doesn't think of it as a disorder, although it is what the D stands for. It does cause her to have panic attacks sometimes, which she isn’t very good at keeping in control, and she always has to escape to a dark, quiet place to collect her thoughts. She's been visiting the evidence room a couple times a month, and so far nobody had found out about her secret location.

"Of course, you know, now that I've told you," she adds, chuckling. She then gags and Jake brings her back to her apartment before she throws up everywhere.

He places her down on her bed, and despite Amy's desperate pleas for him to stay, he shuts and locks the door with a gentle click before heading home himself.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

The next morning, Amy comes in five minutes late, somehow still looking as healthy and organized as ever. She says a quick hello to the Captain, who reminds her that the drug bust her and Jake are working on should be coming to a close soon. She begs for the pounding in her head from her hangover to shut up so she can get it done.

After gulping down her second cup of coffee, her head is just a bit clearer from the dark thoughts she hates that she has. Her mind is now solely staying focused on the task at hand rather than her usual worrying. It's an important case, and she doesn't want to disappoint the Captain by not catching the perp. Her eyes flit back and forth from the screen to her paperwork, and she stops typing for a second to grab a pen to make some notes. She reaches for her trusty ballpoint pen at the corner of her desk, and when she does, a strange white powder meets her fingertips. She glances at her partner, seated across from her, eating mini donuts by the handful. Jake catches her looking at him and smiles cheekily at her. 

"Not a fan of the donuts, huh?"

"You think?" She retorts back, just as more powder lands on her desk. She mumbles something about napkins and pulls her desk farther from the mess. She can't afford any more distractions from this case.

She turns back to her screen, only to hear Jake’s exaggerated chewing sounds and at the corner of her eye, powder coating his desk. She wrinkles her nose in disgust, a strong feeling of Déjà vu from days before, and attempts to shove the thoughts to the back of her mind, but they keep coming up, telling her to rip the donut box from his hands. She squeezes her eyes shut. She can fight this one. It’s only minor.

“Ames?”

Her eyes blink open. Jake’s staring at her with a look of concern, his donuts now finished and the box in the trashcan next to him. She exhales in relief.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing.” There’s a hint of uncertainty in his eyes, and she pushes her desk back, smiling at him slightly. He nods, before reaching for his new desk addition, a neon coloured bouncy ball that he found when he arrested a perp the other day. Amy vaguely remembers him throwing it around in the interrogation room and nearly breaking the glass by bouncing it too high, which resulted in multiple lectures from the sergeant.

She continues her paperwork, the pen long forgotten, and is about to click ‘Print’ when something knocks over her thankfully empty coffee mug, and hits her shoulder.

It’s the neon ball.

She growls under her breath, gripping the corner of her desk until her knuckles turn white. She reaches down to grab the ball, her eyes practically shooting daggers at her partner.

“I will trash this if I have to, Peralta.” It’s a warning, and she makes sure he knows it. He throws his hands up in surrender, chuckling nervously.

“Santiago’s getting feisty, huh?”

Amy doesn’t reply, she just tosses him the best death stare she can manage before printing off the paperwork. She resists the urge to laminate it, since she wants to hand in her work as soon as possible before-

“Santiago. Peralta. My office, please.”

Captain Holt’s voice interrupts her thoughts, and she scrambles to grab the file and walk as calmly as she can to his office. Jake grabs his sticky, powder stained file before following her into the room. The Captain greets them with a nod.

“Detectives.”

“Captain. I’ve got the-” Amy starts off, only for Holt to hold up his hand for her to stop.

"About that. Major Crimes will be taking over the case."

 ** _“What?!”_** They both say in unison, Amy’s voice high pitched and Jake’s in anger.

For a moment, Amy feels like her world stops spinning. This can’t be happening, she put in so much effort for it not to. She looks over to see her partner bite his lip, clenching his fists.

"With all due respect, Sir, we've been collecting evidence for months. Are you sure they’re taking over our case? You don’t have the wrong detectives in here?” His voice sounds hopeful, and Captain Holt shakes his head.

“It’s their case. There’s nothing we can do.”

She knows it’s not her place to question the Captain, but she’s desperate at this point. She’s willing to drop her professionalism for this.

“But we were so close to catching the guy-”

 “Santiago, I understand why you’re upset. I know how much you want to become Captain and that catching this huge drug dealer was going to improve your rank. However, as I said, _there’s nothing we can do.”_

_There's nothing she can do._

_What if she didn't get drunk and if she worked harder and she could've pushed herself more and if Jake didn't have his stupid donuts and if she didn't have her brain wired this way and it wasn't so dysfunctional and if she wasn't so goddamn worthless all the time-_

The tears threaten to spill from her eyes. She hasn't felt like this since her previous panic attack last week. She turns around and throws the office door open, her eyes burning and the thoughts consuming her completely. She barely makes it to the evidence room, and when she does, she collapses on the floor and cries.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Jake slips into the evidence lockup, shutting the door gently behind him. Regardless of his terrible memory (like Dory, he often brags), when he saw his partner rush out of the Captain's office, he knew there was only two places she could've gone. The lady's bathroom (which he checked, finding Hitchcock there washing his hands and humming, which was creepy if not weird.) and the evidence room, which drunk Amy mentioned yesterday.

He almost screams when he sees a body lying on the floor whimpering. He identifies it to be Amy from her tear stained pantsuit.

_At least she's not dead._

"Ames?" He whispers, crouching down to her level. She's crying so hard, her eyes red and puffy, and Jake wants to give her a hug, but he can't do that right now.

"J-Jake, I-" She never lets anyone see her like this. Broken.

"I'm here, I got you." He moves closer to her, and in the state of chaos she's in, she can still faintly smell his cheap cologne. It calms her down a bit, and she takes in a couple breaths.

"Play with my hair," she manages to say. He's caught off-guard, and she explains quickly. "My mom, whenever I got like this, she did that. It helps. Please, Jake."

"Okay, cool. Uh," he lifts her head into his lap and starts thumbing through her hair, his movements light and tender.

Amy almost bursts into tears again. It's exactly how her mother does it.

They sit in silence, and twenty minutes later, Amy has collected herself enough to sit upright. Her breathing has somewhat steadied, and her shaking fingers tap the cold tiles repeatedly.

_taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap. taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap. taptaptaptaptaptaptaptaptap._

Her hair's a mess, but she'll fix it later. She leans against Jake for support, and he inhales sharply.

"Is this okay?"

"Yeah." He hesitates before asking if she wants to talk about what happened.

"I have obsessive compulsive disorder."

"I know." Before Amy questions him any further, he continues. "Truth bomb Amy told me last night."

She groans, placing her head in her hands.

"I fucked up so bad, didn't I."

"Santiago! That's not the vocabulary of someone who has been voted Most Appropriate in high school." He mock gasps and Amy rolls her eyes, but she's secretly pleased he remembered. "Also, title of your sex tape," Jake adds gleefully.

Amy ignores him and goes back to what they were discussing before.

"What you saw just now was one of the worst panic attacks I had in a while. Given my luck, it's gotten worse over these few months." She doesn't mention that she's stopped taking her medication because she wanted to be able to get through this without pills and prescriptions. It was backfiring so far, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.

Jake says the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Fearless is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again....even though every time you've tried before you've lost.”

Amy cocks her head to look at him.

"Who said that? I just might make that my new life motto."

"Taylor Swift, always right." He says happily.

"I should've known."

"I SHOULD'VE KNOWN IS A LYRIC FROM DEAR JOHN FROM HER ALBUM SPEAK NOW WHICH BY THE WAY IS COMPLETELY SELF WRITTEN AND IS AN ACTUAL MASTERPIECE." Jake blurts, waving his hands around in excitement.

"I should take you to a concert when she comes to Brooklyn." Amy laughs.

"Oh my god, that would be _amazing."_

Jake offers her his hand and she takes it, and he pulls them both up. Jake can't help notice how well their hands fit together, along with a thought of denial right after about how he isn't crushing on Amy.

Jake scratches the back of his neck, a dorky, dimpled grin plastered on his face. Amy's heart flutters again, and she mentally screams at it to stop doing so.

 _We're best friends and that's what we'll always be,_  she reminds herself.

"You're one of the strongest women I know, Ames. You'll win this battle." He says, before opening the door to leave.

This bet was going to be much harder to win than she thought.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title is from my queen (and jake's queen!) taylor's song "tied together with a smile" and i thought it was fitting for this chapter. hopefully i did ocd amy justice because i've read alot of novels that has characters with this condition (every last word is a good one btw) and i pray that i understand it enough to write it well. also just imagining amy crying broke my heart a bit inside but i'm fine. please leave me some lovely comments!!! or bad ones, because i suck!!!


	3. let the games begin, are you ready for it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello hello!!! posting this chapter in honour of this beautiful show that returned on tuesday!!! *intense screaming* i won't spoil but holy fuck did i laugh and cry. this chapter is dedicated to the sweetest @sadtiagos, and my friend @amysfrenchhorn on twitter!

**JAKE** sneaks up behind Amy's chair, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. She stays engrossed in some novel she's reading, not even bothering to adjust her large frames when they slide down to her nose. She looks calm, free from yesterday's demons, and Jake feels a sense of pride for helping her through her panic attack. He's had a few of his own, his anxiety getting the best of him when his father left that were thankfully gone now. Sure, there was the dull, lingering pain when he thought about it, but he was better now. He was alright.

"Santiago!" Her eyes remain glued to the pages as she skims them hurriedly. He clears his throat, once, twice, and then three times. No response.

"Ames, Holt needs us in his office."

It's an immediate reaction, her slamming the book shut and bookmarking the page. She takes off her glasses, placing them back in their case, and looks at her partner, eyes wide at the name of her mentor.

"Why didn't you _start_ with that, you idiot?!"

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"Are we getting bad news or good news?"

It's the first thing Jake asks the second the door and blinds are closed, per the Captain's request. They both take a seat in the chairs in front of the desk, and Jake sees Amy tapping her shoes quietly at the corner of his eye and squeezes her arm in reassurance. He gets a grateful smile in return, and she stops tapping. The Captain notices the small exchange between them and starts to regret betting so high. It was no secret they cared for each other, and it was only the guards they put up, scared of getting hurt, that was preventing them from getting together. He knew Rosa or Charles was going to win the bet, and he couldn't change his now. He could practically hear Kevin scolding him in disappointment when he'd tell him.

 _Why would you participate in silly stuff like this in the first place, Raymond?_   he'd say.

He chuckles at the thought of his husband, and the two detectives before him give him strange looks. He clears his throat and goes back to the topic at hand.

"It's good news-"

"WOOOOO!!! What'd I tell you, Ames?" Jake grins, relieved that Major Crimes wouldn't be here today to steal their cases again. Amy just smiles.

"Section 7, page 145. Nice work, Santiago." The Captain praises her, and this time Amy lets out a squeal of her own. Jake bounces in his seat like a little kid on Christmas and waits for the Captain to explain.

"Do you two know about Case 0902?"

"Are you _kidding?_ Even non-police officers know!" Jake screeches softly, his hands gripping the armrests of his chair. Amy kicks him to remind him that they can't be too loud, and his voice drops to a hushed whisper. "The Ravens Case, or Case 0902, consists of a group of kidnappers/ _murderers,_ and they're known for leaving a single black feather at every crime scene. So far, the kidnappings have only been in Manhattan. They kidnap you for a period ranging from hours to days, and every hour they ask you one question on birds. If you get it wrong, you get beaten. If you get it right, they'll leave you alone until the next hour. At the end of thirty questions, if you've gotten most of them wrong, they shoot you. If you get most of them right, you can leave with bruises and wounds, but you'll be alive. It's a weird case, but it's totally epic if you think about it."

Amy coughs. The Captain adjusts the rainbow pride flag on his desk.

"I mean, it's totally epic 'cause we get to catch them when it's over. Definitely not 'cause they're killing people. That's totally cruel." Jake says quickly, correcting himself.

The Captain lifts a thick file onto his desk, carefully thumbing to a page and reading its contents. "You two will be stationed in separate apartments in Manhattan, across from one another. Your apartments have been rented by the FBI, and are to be used by those participating in their investigations only. So there won't be any parties."

Amy nudges Jake, smirking at him. "He's talking to you, Peralta."

"At least I have friends that do real friend things! You and Kylie go to _trivia nights._ For _fun."_

"Do I have to ask Diaz and Boyle?" The Captain exhales in frustration, rubbing his forehead. The two were either bickering or flirting. There was no in between with them. Sure, they were his best detectives, but if they were going to act like this and not take him seriously, he'd have to transfer the case to the others or decline the offer at all.

"No!" They say in unison, ending their argument straight away.

"I can handle it, I swear, Captain. I don't know about Jake, though-" Amy adds, earning a shove from Jake. The Captain sighs but proceeds his explanation.

"During your mission- it'll last a week, if successful- you will live as normal and investigate at the crime scenes. You will be requested to stake out some overnight, and you should report all findings back to me or the FBI as soon as you can. You will also be asked to cut off all communication with anyone excluding the Nine-Nine, as we trust them. Remember that this is a highly classified operation that can be brought down with one false move. We'll be meeting with the handlers of this operation tonight, at the announcement party. Any questions?"

"So I can't change my name to Rex Buckingham?" Jake asks sheepishly.

The Captain groans, waving them both out of his office and hands Amy the file to study. She accepts it and hugs it to her chest like it's a new binder.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Gina observes the two as they come out of the Captain's office, Amy's face glowing with joy and Jake buzzing with excitement. She frowns, upset that she doesn't know what's going on, and shoots a text to her text chain with Rosa and Charles.

 

 **the 100 emoji:** y'all whats happening ???

 **don't touch me:** should i care?

 **the 100 emoji:** sometimes i wonder if you're really human

 **charles boilz:** oh, she's definitely human. she cried at the fault in our stars.

 **don't touch me:** charles, everybody cried at that movie. you were sobbing into jake's shoulder.

 **the 100 emoji:** could we get back to the topic at hand, please?

 **charles boilz:** sorry sorry sorry

 **charles boilz:** think the captain gave them a huge case to make up for the one they lost yesterday?

 **don't touch me:** the huge drug bust that major crimes stole? ugh.

 **the 100 emoji:** let's ask 'em.

 

As if on cue, they all stand up at once, approaching Jake and Amy at their desks. Charles sits on the chair next to Jake's while Gina and Rosa stay standing. Charles points at Jake and Amy, then folds his arms across his chest.

"We are not leaving these seats until you give us some deets." He demands, and Jake shakes his head. Amy can tell from the look in his eyes how much he wants to spill everything now, but she motions for him to shut up. He seems to get the message and turns to his best friend apologetically.

"Sorry bud, no can do. You'll find out tonight, there's an announcement party."

"A party? So there'll be drinks?" Rosa chimes in, interested. Gina looks at her like she's a two-headed alien.

"Rosie, have you _ever_ been to a party with the Nine-Nine without drinks?"

"Good point." They high five, and Terry interrupts their conversation to tell them to get back to work.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

_at the party_

If there's one thing Jake Peralta is tonight, it's mesmerized.

The first thing he sees are the decorations, blue and yellow ribbons and balloons to match the NYPD colours. A disco light is hanging from the ceiling, shining alternating beams of light off the walls. The speakers are playing some sappy love song that he'd hear his father sing to his mother all the time when he was little, and he tries to focus on something else, to think of anything but his traitor of a father. With his hands shoved into his leather jacket, he suddenly feels underdressed- all the Captain told him was a time and address, and didn't say anything about how fancy this party was going to be. His gaze shifts to the massive chocolate fountain, occupied by Scully and Hitchcock, who are taking turns dipping foods into the fountain. He reminds himself to not use it for the rest of the night.

He makes his way to the refreshment table, and stares at it in awe at the tiers of red velvet cupcakes, macarons, finger sandwiches and pastries on trays. This wasn't your typical high school dance- there wasn't any fruit punch to be found. As far as Jake could tell, there was a dispenser filled with lemon water, and another with sparkling water. If he wanted alcohol, he was going to have to ask the bartender himself.

He was the only one there, excluding Scully and Hitchcock, and he couldn't see himself striking up a conversation with them anytime soon. He could eat, but he was certain he'd make a mess and get called up to make a speech or something, with cupcake crumbs dribbling down his chin and frosting smeared on his lips. He can't help but laugh at how nervous he is, as he's never been undercover. Sure, he's been on stakeouts with Boyle, but that was about it.

He lets himself eat a cupcake.

"Jake?" A feminine voice comes from behind him, and he chokes on the cake, his eyes watering. He turns to see who it is, and Amy gives him a quizzical look, holding back giggles when he sees his reaction to her outfit. It wasn't even that fancy- she was just wearing a simple black dress that Kylie insisted her to. When he recovers, his voice comes out in a rasp, and he plays with the zipper on his jacket as he speaks.

"Ames, seriously? You had to ruin my cupcake eating session while wearing something like _that?"_

"It can't be that bad," she grins, tilting her head to the side.

"No, no, you look amazing, it's just-" He pauses, watching Amy tuck her hair behind her ears shyly. "I was eating my cupcake, Amy. Plus, I was choking. I could've _died."_

"You really think so?"

"Uh, yes, Amy. I do think I suffered from a near-death experience." Jake says, matter of factly.

"No, the first part. You think I look okay?" She doesn't dare to say amazing. She doesn't dare to tell him how fast her heart's beating, how she's counting in nines in her head anticipating his answer. Sure, she's dated other guys and they've called her pretty, but there's something about Jake's sincerity and input that she can't place. She craves her Captain's validation, as much as she doesn't like to admit it, inviting him to her Thanksgiving dinners and giving him presents whenever she can. But this was different, and she didn't know how. It was sending every thought in her head into a frenzy, and frankly, it was exhausting. Having OCD was as much of a struggle as it was, and this added anxiety was only fuel to the fire. She hated it.

"More than okay. You're a stunning woman, Ames." His tone is warm, his voice shaking slightly, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Amy stops counting. She stops worrying, and for a second, she lets herself pretend that she's normal. Before she loses her nerve, she opens her mouth.

"You want to dance?"

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"Rosie, you're my lord and savior. You found the drinks." Gina gushes, sliding into the bar stool next to Rosa. She doesn't mention how she turned on Find My Friends and went to three wrong areas before she got here. She'd have to upgrade her phone soon.

Rosa stays silent, taking another sip from her half-empty bottle. She offers one to Gina, reaching into the bright blue cooler in front of her. A bartender is nowhere to be found, and Gina wonders if Rosa knocked him or her out cold to steal his booze. Rosa seems to sense Gina's doubt and describes how she got the cooler.

"I came here early and spotted one of my colleagues from ballet school, Hunter, setting up the refreshment table. He quit the school to earn money for his family, and apparently he owns this place now. He recognized me and knew I wouldn't drink lemon water even if my life depended on it, so he showed me the bar."

"Damn, girl. Who knew ballet school would come in handy?" Gina says, impressed. Rosa hands her the drink, and it's her cold fingertips that meet Gina's on the glass that causes both of them to shiver. It's the simplest of touches- so light that it has to be an accident. It's when Gina finds herself hoping it was intentional when it hits her, how she loves how hot Rosa looks when she interrogates a perp. When she catches herself waiting for her to come to work every day so she can rant to her about her dance sequences, the minor victories in her heart when she approves of them, even giving her advice to change a few moves. It's the realization that hits her like how the bus hit Regina in _Mean Girls._

Gina Linetti was in love with Rosa Diaz.

"You're welcome to stay." Rosa mutters, the sentence nearly inaudible and would've gone unheard if Gina wasn't hanging onto her every word.

"I wasn't going to leave." Gina clinks her bottle against Rosa's, and Rosa bites the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Amy doesn't let Jake answer.

She grabs his hand, leading him to the open dance floor, and they stand, facing each other. He's hesitant, placing his hands on her waist, and she places hers on his shoulders. They sway back and forth in that position for a while, a soft melody playing in the background. The song abruptly changes to a fast-paced one, and a look of mischief flashes in Jake's eyes. Without speaking, he grabs her hand and spins her out, causing her to shriek in surprise. Before she can fall backward, he uses his free hand to hold her up, and it's then when they realize the position they're in, Jake's face inches away from hers. She can smell the cheap cologne- the same one he wears every day, and the same one that he wore when he comforted her - and her tenseness disappears. Something about Jake soothed her, like she could be safe with him around. She searches his eyes, a breathtaking shade of hazel with flecks of green scattered about, and wills herself to live in the moment. This was their night, after all.

Meanwhile, Jake was watching Amy, the way her hair was cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall. Her eyes are distant, thinking, and no matter how much he wanted to know what she was thinking about, he didn't have the courage to ask.

 _She smells like lavender,_ Jake notes, before blinking back to reality and pulling them back upright.

"You know, Santiago, you being the one that suggested this dance, you're doing an awful lot of stepping on my feet." He smirks, and Amy glares at him, stomping on his foot on purpose. He yelps, returning the favour, and they both revel in the comfortable silence.

"How did you learn to dance like that?" Amy asks, intrigued.

"Gina's made me watch her dance routines on repeat before her talent shows at our school, and I've picked up a few things here and there." He goes to dip her, and she laughs, holding onto him for balance. Before she can reply, though, a mic crackles over the speakers, and the Captain's booming voice fills the room. They break their embrace, both of them focusing on the Captain's speech. He's halfway through his introduction when Charles bursts through the entrance, panting and red-faced, waving his hands around to get everyone's attention.

"Rosa and Gina got drunk so I had to get them back to their apartments, which is why I'm late, I am so sorry Jakey!" He rambles, running towards Jake and Amy, throwing his arms around them both. "I am over the _moon_ for you two."

"Detectives Jacob Peralta and Amelia Santiago will be going undercover for a week, working with the FBI." The Captain continues, and everyone explodes into applause, shouts of 'Congratulations!' surrounding them. The Captain goes on to discuss the limited details he can about the operation, inviting them both up on stage to speak. Amy raves about how psyched and honoured she is to have been chosen for the operation, squinting into the neon lights when Jake yells out for her to cut the teacher's pet crap. Jake goes next, making so many Die Hard references in his speech that Amy begins to suspect if he even knows any other movies.

"People love their pets." She retorts at him when they're both done their speeches. Jake rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever you say. You can argue with me when you've finished bringing Holt to the 'fun gatherings' you call Thanksgiving dinners."

"Still don't know what you have against the holiday." She grumbles.

"People stuff themselves and at midnight, they run to appliance stores and trample each other to death. It's a garbage holiday, Ames."

She knows that he isn't telling the truth, the pain hidden in his eyes proving to her that it's so much more than what he said. Her voice is soft, concerned, and she forces Jake to look at her.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"My mom worked, my dad was gone, and I sat at home watching football. It's always been a sucky holiday." He sighs, admitting defeat. 

Amy's shocked at the news. She's known of his family issues, of course, but she didn't know it ruined holidays for him.

"I don't know what to say, Jake."

"So don't say anything. It's okay. I'm over it."

Amy wraps him in a hug, and for the first time since Jake's talked about his family with anyone, warmth blossoms in his chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment some feedback and/or your favourite lines! see you next update :)


	4. you're right by my side, whenever i need you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm back from my hiatus! i did not forget about this, i swear, not updating this has actually been haunting me. school has me in shambles

**IT'S**  the next morning, at 10:37 AM, curled up in her desk chair with her wolf blanket and sitting with her expresso, is when Gina Linetti decides to swear off drinks for the next month.

She takes a slow sip of her coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste, thinking about how she'd much rather be at home and drinking her favourite tea. She grumbles when she sees that she's nearly finished and not at all awake yet, despite the things she's heard about expressos making you alert and giving you an energy boost. This hangover was a stone cold  _bench._

Gina stands up, her blanket flowing behind her as she walks towards the coffee machine, unaware of the detective already there. She nearly knocks them both over, and Rosa whirls around, her wild eyes flashing behind her darkly tinted sunglasses.

"I swear to forking _God-_ " She pauses, hard voice softening when she realizes it's just Gina. A smile plays at the corner of her lips, and Rosa looks over at her friend, with her auburn hair covering her faded eyes, the ocean blue turned to the colour of a murky sky. Rosa hides the sympathy she feels for her and goes on to hand her the coffee she was refilling for herself, prying the empty Starbucks cup from Gina's hands and dumping it in the trash. Gina accepts the mug graciously, her fingers tracing the tacky bright yellow letters spelling out NEW YORK'S FINEST, along with a teddy bear with a police outfit. She wants to thank Rosa for letting her have the coffee, to let her know how much the small gesture means to her; she wants to tease Rosa for her mug selection, make her laugh and shake her head; but before she can do anything, she gags. Gina quickly places the mug on the counter, careful as to not let it spill, Wolfie falling to the ground and Scully and Hitchcock exchanging glances. Rosa curses under her breath, assessing the situation, and slides her arm around Gina's waist, holding her upright and leads her to the elevator, black boots scuffing the floor.

"Come on," she hisses, punching the elevator buttons to wherever they're going. Gina concentrates on Rosa's hand, brushing dangerously near her thigh, burying the stolen moment in the back of her mind. And then the hand's gone, the elevator doors sliding open, and Rosa steers them through the endless hallways. They stop in a dimly lit corridor, a giant stack of old evidence boxes in front of them. Rosa gives Gina a look, asking if she'll be able to stay standing for a few seconds, and she nods silently, leaning on the wall. With a single push, the cart the boxes are on roll aside, revealing a freshly scented, sparkling clean bathroom. Gina doesn't have time to appreciate it though- she rushes over to the toilet, her hands on the plush carpet, her throat dry as she heaves. Rosa sits next to her, patiently waiting for her to be finished, her hand rubbing Gina's back and the other pulling back her hair. They stay there for a while, and Rosa coughs, getting up when she sees Gina's exhausted, weak body.

"Wait here, okay? I'll get you Wolfie. There's some water under the table next to you if you need it. I'll be back in two, five minutes tops."

Rosa hesitates by the doorway, her hand resting on the frame, searching her friend's eyes for an 'okay'. Gina gives her a thumbs up, her hands shaking, and Rosa disappears around the corner, gone as the nausea hits Gina again, this time without anyone there to soothe her.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"Amy, sweetheart, could you give me a hand?”

It’s Jake- his eyes lighting up and his face breaking out into a huge grin at the sight of his colleague. In his grip is a suitcase, rolling behind him, a duffel bag hanging off his shoulder, and a box balanced in the crook of his arm. Amy can't help but blush at the endearment- he's given her many over the past week; honey, pumpkin, cupcake, each one more ridiculous than the next. She's fired back with a few of her own, and she was sure they were just calling each other anything they could think of at this point. Amy tilts her head at Jake, a hand on her hip, thinking about the single suitcase she already placed in the trunk of the sleek black car waiting for them.

"Well, bunny basket, you should've read the guidelines. It clearly said to pack for a week's stay, not a month's vacation. You brought this," she pauses, motioning to the stuff he's struggling to carry, "upon yourself."

"Bunny basket?! Not cool, Ames." He smiles- even though he fully understands that he won't be getting her help- and continues to make the rest of his awkward shuffle towards the car. His sneaker then gets caught on a rock, resulting in something dropping out of his overflowing box. He dodges Amy's punch to his shoulder when she goes to pick it up and realizes it's a Die Hard CD, going on to tell him how unnecessary it is considering he's seen the entire series so many times he likely has it memorized. He seizes the CD out of her hands and hauls everything into the trunk, sticking his tongue out at her as he shuts the trunk with a bang.

And it's as they're standing there, Jake holding the car door open for Amy with their car driver honking impatiently, when Amy takes a good look at her partner. She lets her mind wander aimlessly into the 'what ifs', admiring the sunlight weaving itself through his endless brown curls, and how it's killing her not being able to run her fingers _through-_

"Santiago, I think the driver's mad. He's been honking continuously for the past few minutes." It's the dumb, crooked grin plastered across his face that makes her heart beat just a little faster, and then realization floods her all at once- she can't allow this. He's her work partner, one of her best friends and one of the only people that can understand how she feels despite the raging war inside her. She can't fall in love again, she can't make the same mistakes like she did with all her previous boyfriends and lose him. And so she tries to quell the thumping of her heart, moving her hands back to tighten her ponytail, and puts on a smile.

"Again, your problem. I arrived twenty minutes early. You decided to be twenty minutes late." And with that, she climbs into the backseat, squealing as Jake enters after her and goes to flip up her shirt collar, and the door slams closed. Frederik, the driver, sighs and speeds away with two crazy detectives in his company, the Nine-Nine growing smaller and smaller until it's out of sight.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"Hey, Linetti. I'm back. I don't normally apologize to people without them doing so first, but I'm sorry I took so long..." Rosa trails off, Wolfie and a tea bag in hand. She knows she shouldn't have looked into Gina's phone or her desk drawer, but she couldn't bring herself to watch Gina drink any more of the coffee she obviously hated. So with some investigating, she found the tea stash in her second drawer down and grabbed a random one (assuming that they were all the same) before sprinting back to the bathroom.

(She also had to wrestle Wolfie away from Hitchcock and Scully, threatening to punch them and then doing so, but she doesn't need to mention that.)

Rosa looks around the bathroom for Gina and finds her sound asleep on the carpet, her hair sprawled out around her, cardigan in a ball and Gina clutching onto it like a kid with their stuffed animal. Rosa sighs at the sight (why did she  _ever_ let her life come to this?) and sinks down next to her, cross-legged and unfolding the blanket. The light fabric covers Gina's body, and Rosa sets the tea bag on the table, trying to think of something to say.

"Sweet dreams." She mumbles, tone low. Gina shifts, her sentence first incoherent and dreamy, and then she repeats herself so Rosa can hear.

"Can we name this magical land Babylon?"

And Gina's wish from before comes true, with Rosa laughing to herself and shaking her head. The name is so ridiculous but so perfectly fitting. With Gina, she never knew what to expect, and even though she was scared about how fast her defences shut off when they were together, she was growing to like it.

"Babylon it is."

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"The wheels on the car go round and round, round and round, round and round," Jake sings quietly, looking straight as Amy as an attempt to annoy her for the sixth time in the past forty minutes.

"It's bus, not car, Jake. For being so childlike, you should know all the nursery rhymes," Amy smiles winningly. Jake feigns an expression of hurt, his hand on his chest, taking her insult like an arrow to the heart.

"Ouch. To think we were just starting to get along."

"I don't know what made you think that, butthead." Jake's quick to respond, his mind scrambling for a fiery comeback.

"That's not how you treat your boyfriend, monkey face."

"If it was up to me, we would have broken up ages ago."

They continue this for the ten minutes until they arrive, Frederik pulling up at a massive, graffiti-splattered brick building, a similar one across the street. "The graffiti is to cover up the FBI logo that used to be here, as the neighbours starting harassing the workers for not helping with their, I quote, urgent matters, unquote." Frederik explains, handing the two detectives their luggage, raising an eyebrow at Jake's amount of stuff compared to Amy's. Amy thanks Frederik warmly, urging Jake to do so as well, and he launches into a long string of 'thank you's' that causes Amy to have to drag them both away.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Gina's eyelids flutter open to a place she thinks could be heaven. The sweet smell of tea around her, the lilac walls and the soft carpet was exactly what she imagined her own kingdom's palace to look like if she ruled one. She lifts herself up slightly to take a better look, her elbows bent, gradually adjusting her head. A sharp, stabbing pain results in her neck, causing her to fall backward, and Rosa glances at her in alarm. She drops the tea bag she's preparing for Gina to use her lightning quick reflexes to slide over and catch her head before it hits the linoleum tiles.

 _Hold on, Rosa's here?_   Gina thinks, head dizzy. _Yup, I'm definitely dreaming._

She attempts to grab onto the scattered fragments of her memory, slowly piecing together that she is, in fact, not in heaven, but in a bathroom that Rosa has managed to keep a secret for years. She clears her throat to speak, wincing at the rough tone to her voice.

"I can't believe you're making tea for me."

Rosa shrugs, biting her lip as she fidgets with a piece of barbed wire in her leather jacket pocket. "It's no big deal."

"But it is, Rosie. You could be doing so many other things and yet you're here with me." Gina argues, and Rosa falls silent. Gina did have a point- Rosa didn't have to take care of her. She could've walked away, spun on her heels and left Gina there on the floor, or she could have given her medicine and gone back to work. But she invited her into her space, her sacred oasis away from the stinky public bathrooms of the precinct, and let her stay.

"You confuse me." Rosa says at last, standing up. She needs to leave before something slips out, the cage of her heart hostage to her feelings about to explode.

"Rosie, don't go. What about my tea?"

"Make it yourself." Rosa's eyes burn, her chest tight as she goes back to the bullpen, her emotions shielded as she types away on her computer. She clicks a little too hard on the document she's trying to open, her eyes a flurry of anger, a swirling storm of frustration, and she almost brings herself to march back down and beg for forgiveness. To say that it's not Gina's fault she's a mess.

But she doesn't, and she assures herself that it's for the best.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

For a building owned and operated by the FBI, you would assume that they'd have everything prepared for you.

Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and so Amy unpacks before heading over to the local Whole Foods for groceries.

“How does the low-fat granola that I eat have more sugar than the Lucky Charms that Jake eats? That's it, I'm giving up on humanity.” Amy snorts, shelving both cereal boxes back and settling for Cheerios instead, which is on a 'top 20 cereals that are actually healthy' article she read online.

"Do you need any help with that?"

Amy whirls around, dropping down from her tiptoes to see who’s talking to her. It’s a worker- his nametag reads Kyle- and he’s smiling at her in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable. He waits for an answer, his eyes roaming over her body, and Amy looks away, the thoughts attacking her like bullets.

_he could be a creep or maybe he’s just trying to help you and be a nice guy you’re probably overthinking everything like you usually do-_

She takes a breath, dropping her arm down to her side, the cereal she wants long forgotten. Amy forces a smile, adjusting her blouse as she glances sideways at Kyle.

“I’m good, thanks.”

She blinks, cheeks flushed red, and suddenly he’s not there anymore. She feels warm air tickle her ear, the sirens in her brain blaring, indicating someone standing way too close. _Kyle._

“A little tense, aren’t you, babe?” He whispers, voice deep and scratchy. His hands are on her waist, and Amy’s frozen, unable to move, her muscles turned to ice.

_run run run run run run run run run-_

“Get off me!” It shocks her a bit, the way her voice comes out sounding strong, her eyes cutting through him like steel as she breaks from his hold. He stumbles back, and Amy speeds to the exit, her hand fumbling for a twenty dollar bill as she leaves it at a cashier. She’s panting heavily as she sprints through the streets of Manhattan, running all three blocks to her apartment. She knows she’s crying, the salty tears streaking down her skin as she turns the key and shuts the door behind her. She needs to calm down, to control the demons before they shred her to dust. She needs someone to play with her hair.

She needs Jake.

Her vision blurry, she picks up her phone, fingers shaky as she taps his contact picture. It’s so stupid that it makes her laugh, his eyes crossed as he tried to balance a binder on his head. She captured the moment months ago when he wasn’t looking, one of the many photos to join her embarrassing collection of him. She doesn't doubt the fact that he has photos of her too, and the thought cools her down enough for her to dial his number. He answers on the first ring, and she places him on speaker mode to remind herself that she isn't alone.

"Santiago, what's up?"

"I-"

_don't tell him don't get him involved he already saw you break down once and he probably thinks you're a freak he probably pities you he might be busy don't tell him don't tell him don't tell him just hang **up** -_

"I shouldn't have called. I'm fine." Her voice cracks on the last word, her throat closing up and walls crashing in, and she can barely make out Jake telling her to breathe and that he'll be with her as soon as he can.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Jake nudges the door to Amy's apartment complex with the edge of his sneaker, the harsh, white light from the hallway illuminating Amy's features. Her breaths are ragged, and from what Jake can tell, she's on the verge of passing out. The door creaks open, allowing Jake to slip inside, and he closes it briskly, his movements frantic. His heart clenches in the slightest- the last time he saw Amy with light flitting across her face was at the Boyle-Linetti wedding, when she fooled him into dancing with an old woman instead of her- and he stops his reminiscing, concentrating back on the task at hand.

"Ames? I'm here now. Y'know, as your professional hair player. That sounded weird. Imagine if hair was like, a game, and you could play it. What am I saying?"

"Jake." Amy chokes out a laugh, a breathless sound laced with tears and pain and relief, and she surrenders to his arms, his grip, melting into him, the anxiety fading instantly. Her attacks usually lasted hours, with her screams muffled by pillows and her knuckled bruised from punching walls. Those were her most severe, and it ranged depending on what the cause was. There'd be holes in the walls by now if Jake hadn't arrived in time.

"You good, Santiago?" Jake asks, concerned, but not as much as before. Her breaths have grown more stable, her muscles less rigid, and her eyes are bright. Amy untangles herself from him, blushing profusely when she realizes what position she was in, and casts her eyes down on the hardwood floor.

"I'm better. Thanks for coming," Amy whispers, their voices the only sounds in the room.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I... can't. Not now. I'm not ready." She leans her head on his shoulder, the worn down fabric of his hoodie brushing her cheek. He's quiet, his skin in flames from her touch, as he searches for a valid response.

"Even if you're never ready, it's okay."

Amy grasps onto those fleeting words, wondering how he always knows how to gather all her thoughts and send them all running simultaneously. She decides, sitting there with the afternoon light streaming in through the linen curtains, that she'll never love someone like she loves Jake.

As one of her closest friends.

Amy isn't sure who she's trying to convince anymore.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

**A CONVERSATION SNIPPET FROM BACK AT THE NINE-NINE**

_"I bet they're spooning on Amy's couch right now!"_

_"Charles, you and I both know that they'd both rather die than admit their very obvious feelings for each other."_

_"Have some hope in them! You're the one that made me have to alter my wedding plans after betting on three weeks!"_

_"And I regret that decision."_

_"Where's Gina? I saw you two enter the elevator and only you returned. Where did you take her? Some mysterious dungeon you keep here for people that have wronged you?"_

_"None of this is any of your business, Boyle."_

_"And just like that, things got interesting!"_

_"And just like that, I left."_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dianetti and peraltiago; so close, yet so far  
> (and we still have a long way to go before this fic is over)


	5. you throw your head back laughing like a little kid

**THERE** are times where Amy wishes she didn't set emergency alarm clocks. It gets annoying when she's exhausted after a long day at work, or from a hangover, and she's thriving on five hours of sleep. She can't roll over to trace her fingers over buttons to hit the correct one, let alone all three before they all go off into a chorus of obnoxious beeping. It's worse that she gets up early to go for her morning jog, as well as stop by her favourite café to get her breakfast. Sometimes it takes longer than usual at the bank, and don't even get her started on the _one time_ she was late and everyone was waiting for her.

Point is, Amy wants nothing more than to go back to sleep, but the loudest, repetitive ringing echoes in her ears. She groans, fists rubbing her eyes to clear her vision, and reaches around the small nightstand for her glasses. She blinks, her mind slowly replaying yesterday's events, and the ringing suddenly stops.

"That's weird." She says aloud, glancing at her silent alarm clocks. Did they turn off themselves, or did she forget to set them?

"Santiago!" Jake's muffled voice comes from the kitchen, where the entrance is, and Amy pauses, understanding. "Sorry if the doorbell woke you up. I swear it's broken or something, I only pressed it twice. Anyway, if I'm not wrong, I heard some movement in there. I could be very well talking to a rat- which, by the way, I found one under my bed and named it Algernon and I'm definitely bringing it back to the precinct- but I just wanted to check on you because you're usually up before me. You also need a full breakfast instead of living on coffee, Ames. So-"

Amy opens the door, her eyes weary and hair tied back into a loose bun. An oversized t-shirt hangs over her shorts, and her glasses droop in the slightest down her nose. Jake glances behind her, looking at her near immaculate apartment in disbelief, as his own already has random items strewn about. If he didn't know how organized Amy was, he would be convinced that she had a fairy godmother to clean things for her.

"You're awake, alive, and have somehow managed to keep your apartment in perfect condition. Can I come in?" Jake grins, a goofy energy radiating off of him. Amy stares Jake down, expression serious and still, and she cracks a smile.

"Only if you have breakfast."

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

"Oh my god," Amy breathes, her eyes widening at the restaurant Jake has chosen for them. It's the tackiest place she's ever seen, she decides, as she examines the comical posters and the neon pink duck as a mascot. _I'm so sorry,_ she mouths to the mascot as they pass by, Jake dragging her arm as they enter. A gasp escapes him when he catches sight of yet another duck waiting behind the podium to take their order, and Amy begins to question why she ever agreed to let him pick where they'd eat.

"What would you like?" The duck says, adding a quack at the end. Jake has tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, and he takes a few seconds to steady himself. Amy looks away as to not start giggling herself.

"I'll have pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. As for my lovely girlfriend, she'll have the chef's special." Jake manages to say, intertwining his fingers with Amy's. He leads her to an empty table, and then he lets go, his callused palm brushing against her arm as they take their seats opposite of one another.

Amy struggles to make conversation, her thoughts focused on the feel of Jake's hands, how well they fit with hers, and how it was all so casual.

"What's in the chef's special?" She asks at last. Jake shrugs sheepishly.

"I have no idea. I wanted to surprise you."

"I appreciate the effort, Peralta, but it could be something I hate, and then it'd be a waste of money." Amy rolls her eyes, tone judgmental as she points out the obvious.

"I didn't think that far," Jake replies, almost nervous now. Amy squeezes his arm reassuringly.

"Title of your sex tape!" She beams, triumphant. Jake nods approvingly, his eyes twinkling.

"Noice."

Dave- their waiter, according to his nametag- comes over to their table, along with two plates with silver covers on them in both his hands. He sets them down in front of the detectives, and with a flourish, Dave reveals their contents. On Jake's plate is the standard bacon and pancakes, and on Amy's is smoked salmon, avocado, and cucumber toast. Dave winks at them, quacks, and goes to grab their coffee, leaving Jake in hysterics.

They both dive in, their chewing making a comfortable silence settle over them. Jake gives Amy a cheeky smile, hands sticky with maple syrup as he goes to jab her in the shoulder.

"That's for doubting my food choices, sweetheart."

"Who wouldn't? You eat fruit roll up and gummy bear burritos for breakfast." Amy retorts, flicking a stray piece of avocado at her partner.

"I've never even had to go to the dentist." Jake brags, ripping apart a piece of bacon. His confidence falters when a realization dawns on him. "Wait, that's not a good thing, is it?"

"Obviously not, pineapples. Who knows how many cavities you have now?"

"Remind me to make a dentist appointment after this assignment is over. Also, you're definitely coming with me." Jake adds, shuddering at the thought of metal tools in his mouth.

"If you even follow through with that," Amy snorts. Jake sticks his tongue out at her like the child he is, but they're both smiling.

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

Rosa hates this.

It's stupid, so so incredibly stupid.

She's lingering in the doorway of Babylon, just watching the way Gina's chest rises and falls as she sleeps. She can't get closer to see if the shine on Gina's cheeks are from tears that taste of salt or if it's her always perfect highlighter, glowing under the dim lighting. She hates that it's not the latter, and that she made the one person she tolerated in the precinct cry, but she also knows if she apologizes she'll fall apart. She's so accustomed to winning all her arguments, but she doesn't understand  _why_ her traitor of a heart wants her to lose this one.

She turns to leave, but the faintest of whispers makes her stop dead in her tracks.

"Stay."

**━━━━━━━━━━━━**

The cuckoo clock, placed conveniently behind the two detectives, quacks right into Jake's ear, letting them know it's 8:00 AM. Amy chokes on her last slice of toast, the sight of Jake spitting out his coffee too much for her to handle. She wipes a tear of laughter from her eye as Jake dabs uselessly at his shirt, the coffee stain refusing to disappear.

"Stop  _quacking_ up and help me, Ames!"

She's grinning, shoving handfuls of napkins his way as he grumbles.

"I'll put it on my _bill_ if you want." She suggests, making a duck pun of her own. Jake, being the gentleman he is, politely declines, even though he and Amy were given some money to spend on their mission.

Jake waves Dave over, flapping his arms exaggeratedly while Amy studies him, shaking her head. He slides Dave a twenty dollar bill, telling him to keep the change, and holds out a hand for Amy to take.

"Shall we, m'lady?" Amy presses her palm to his and immediately recoils.

"Jake, could they be any more sticky?"

"Title of your-" He starts, and Amy sighs.

"I set myself up for that one," she groans. "Go wash your hands."

"Whatever you say, _Mom."_

_**━━━━━━━━━━━━** _

Gina wraps Wolfie around herself tighter, the pressure from yesterday's hangover significantly lighter. She hears rustling from nearby, the sharp breath she has memorized, and she can picture Rosa's clouded eyes. She can pick up the squeak of the detective's black heels, about to head back upstairs, and the word falls out before she can stop herself.

"Stay."

Rosa turns around so fast that you'd think she was just waiting for a confirmation all along. She's by her side in an instant, leather jacket left on the back of her chair, revealing her toned arms. Gina chases away thoughts of complimenting them, letting Rosa know how beautiful she is, knowing the consequences. Self-awareness creeps in like wine stains on her favourite shirt; she really can't lose Rosa. Even if it meant they had to stay friends for the rest of eternity, she'd take that over her running away forever.

"...Linetti? Do you need something?"

 _You. Me. My place at seven._ She could end this all right now-

"Um, yeah. Help me up?" Rosa's hand is on her _back-_

_God, she wants to kiss her._

"How about we share that tea you owe me?" The reaction on Rosa's face is priceless, the corners of her lips turning up to form a smile, but her eyes are frozen in shock.

Gina can't tell if it's a good type of shock or bad, but she takes the safe route and continues.

"In _separate_ cups, Diaz. The same tea bag, obvs, to save the environment and all."

Rosa exhales a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Anything for you, Linetti."

_**━━━━━━━━━━━━** _

**captain holt:** Peralta, Santiago.

 **amy santiago:** Yes, Sir.

 **kingjakerulez:** 'sup, captain? and what are you saying yes to, exactly?

 **captain holt:** You two were supposed to report to me an hour ago.

_amy santiago is typing..._

**kingjakerulez:** sorry, captain. it's on me.

 **captain holt:** Don't let it happen again. Dismissed.

 **amy santiago:** I promise it won't. Have a good day, Sir.

 

Amy slips her phone back into her blazer pocket, looking up to see Jake's eyes fixed on her. He goes to flick her arm, and Amy returns the favour. He pouts at her before opening his mouth to speak.

"You owe me, Santiago."

"Care to enlighten me what for?" She asks, a swing in her step as they walk down the sidewalk, without a sense of direction- no instructions were given to them except to wander ( _"To catch the kidnappers' attention, Ames. I've been dreaming about being hunted and hated since I was a kid." "First of all, that's unhealthy. Secondly, you still act like a kid.")_.

"Did I not just take a _bullet_ for you, my precious _cuddle bear?_ " Jake exclaims, shoving the text messages in her face to prove his point.

"Not to burst your bubble, _sugarplum,_ but the blame was yours to take. _You_  recommended breakfast." Amy fires back, voice smug. Jake accepts defeat, and he stops talking to her to check out their surroundings. His eyes dart around and land on a flimsy sheet of paper, stapled to a wooden post, the bright red font enough for him to walk over and read the full thing.

"One of Manhattan's most popular annual carnivals is back this week, and you _don't_ want to miss it! Admission is free for those under 12 years old, and is $10 per person for anyone older. Come and join us!" Jake reads aloud, skimming over the address. He whirls to Amy, practically yelling.

"This is  _ten minutes_ from here."

"Jake... are we even allowed to go? This wasn't in the file-" Amy says, uncertain.

"But y'know what was? The statement saying we could _wander."_ He's jumping, his smile blinding, excitement showing like rays of sunshine. "I'm sure there's somewhere _you_ want to go, Ames. We can make a deal. Please?"

"Well..." Amy doesn't have to think too hard to answer. She's already Googled the area. "There  _is_ a used bookstore I like."

"And we'll spend tomorrow there! It's a perfect compromise." Jake's desperation is evident, and Amy gives in.

"Alright. Lead the way, Peralta."

 _"YES!"_ He cheers.

_**━━━━━━━━━━━━** _

Babylon becomes the epitome of a sleepover.

Steam from the boiling water Rosa is preparing escapes the kettle, and Gina reaches out at the wisps of hot air like they're snowflakes. She inches closer to the detective, throwing Wolfie over both of their backs- Rosa barely bats an eyelash.  _Two supervillains huddled under the same cape, planning to take over the world._ If Gina listens hard enough, she can hear the quiet thump of Rosa's heart, the way her breath hitches when Gina leans on her, the small movements of her fingers as she tears open a tea bag. The signals she's receiving from Rosa are muddled, and for the first time in her life, Gina Linetti doesn't know everything about a person. She makes peace with it, though. Rosa was a mystery she would crack eventually.

Rosa passes her The Mug, the tacky police outfit wearing teddy bear one from the previous day, with an identical one in her hand, and they drink.

_And God, does Gina want to kiss her._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, i know i haven't updated in ~EIGHT~ months and i'm sO sorry but here's the new chapter!!! hope you like it and please comment your thoughts :)

**Author's Note:**

> okay look i had this idea at night and i didn't really think it through but i want to try writing it so... bare with me. let's hope i don't bail on this fic just like i did for all my wattpad ones. pls be nice and comment some things for me to read :D


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